Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-09-30
A Sunday of Terror in Nashville

The scenes and incidents that took
place in Nashville, Tenn, on the Satur-
day night and Sunday of the attack
and fall of Fort Donelson are mem
cradle events in the history of that
city. The story is graphic one The
following sketch is compiled from q
narration of the exciting scenes by
Union man who was in Nashville at
the time:
The Confederates were loath to enter
tain an idea that the Union army
would ever reach Nashville. That city
was thought to be secure, and hence it
was made place for the general stor-
age of army supplies. At the date of
the Fort Donelson fight Nashville was
full Of army stores. All of the great
cotton warehouses and sheds were
filled with bacon and other provisions
for the army; indeed, room could not
be found to store it, and great piles OF
meat were to be seen upon the landing.
The attack upon Fort Donelson
raised the first alarm for the safety of
the Tennessee capital During the
progress of the battle all sorts of de-
vices were resorted to in order to aIlay
the fear among the people. On Sat
urday night preceding the fall of this
fort the city was full of people eager
to hear the news, but no dispatches
were made public. So eager became
the populace that bogus dispatch was
finally read to the crowd in front of
one of the hotels. purported to be
from the Confederate authorities at
Fort Donelson and read as follows
eve have whipped the Yankees at
every point and captured one gun"
This was the only dispatch made pub
lie, and its transparency rather served
to increase the fears of the people.
They thronged the street and rushed
hither and thither, seemingly without
aim or object.
Sunday morning came, but still no
news from Donelson. The women all
went to church, but the men continued
to throng the streets. About eleven
o'clock, word was sent to all the
churches that Fort Donelson had
fallen. Then followed such scene as
one rarely witnesses. The women, who
were told that if the Yankee forces
captured the city it would be sacked and
burned and they would be ravished
and murdered, rushed to their homes
screaming at the top of their voices.
Soon the vehicles of the wealthy were
seen leaving the city, containing only o
few valuables and the females of the
family. The day bloomed out into one
for general equestrian practice, and
vehicles OF all sorts and grades were
moving southwark filled with occu-
pants, mostly females.
Utter despair seemed to seize every-
body. The city lost its head; whole
sale stores were thrown open and the
mob rushed in and carried off what
ever they desired; the hospitals.
where several thousand sick, wounded
and convalescent soldiers were quarter
ed, We're deserted by the authorities
and the inmates told to care for them
selves as best they could. They come
upon the streets in all stages of con-
valescence. Some hobbled out on one
leg, others crawled on their hands and
knees. Many of them were unable to
get farther than half square, where
they lay in the streets and died beneath
the rays of the hot sun. The scene
was appalling-a regular pandemonium
on earth.
About twelve o'clock on Sunday,
Sidney Johnston, who had military
command of the city, issued an order
pressing into service all of the vehicles
In the city to aid in the removal of the
army stores. The fleeing aristocracy,
with their silk and satin Sunday adorn-
ments, were overhauled, set out on the
side OF the pike, and their grand equip
ages loaded with side-meat, Dog-carts